HR 915 FAX CAMPAIGN

To send a free fax go to http://accg.us and click on the picture of the
U.S. Capitol Building. The Fax Wizard will automatically address the
fax for you based on your Zip Code. This particular campaign is open
only to U.S. residents. So far, 48 people have sent faxes via the fax
wizard. More the 550 sent faxes during the recent Italy campaign.
Obviously, we have a long way to go. This campaign is just as
important because any successful legislation sets precedents that
injure our position. Please take a few minutes and send the fax. It
is really simple.

Regards,
Wayne

Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director, ACCG

-----Original Message-----
From: dwelsh46 ]
Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2005 1:56 PM
To: Unidroit-L ); Ancientartifacts
); ); CoinCom
Cc: ; Iranica )
Subject: H.R. 915 Fax Campaign


It is time for all collectors concerned about possible import
restrictions
on ancient coins to send faxes opposing H.R. 915. This pernicious bill
would
create a paperwork nightmare for anyone wishing to import a wide
variety of
ancient Greek, Indo-Greek, Kushan, Hepthalite, Parthian, Persian,
Sasanian,
Indian and even perhaps Roman and Chinese coins. If you bought a coin
or
other artifact in a European auction, this law could require that you
submit
documentary proof of where that object was discovered before you would
be
allowed to bring it into the United States.

Even if you do not participate in European auctions, blocking almost
all
imports of these ancient coins would have a very significant effect on
offerings in US auctions and from US dealers. It would almost certainly
result in a severe scarcity of ancient coins in the US and a
corresponding
surplus in Europe.

Below is a copy of my fax. My comments in the Congressional Record can
be
viewed he
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearin...e=view&id=3640

Dave Welsh

Unidroit-L Listowner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L/
Chairman, International Affairs
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
http://accg.us/

*********************

HR 915 fax:

*********************

Please do not support H.R. 915, a bill currently under consideration
in the
Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.

This bill is advanced under false premises. Its justification
commentary
includes an inflammatory statement that all the holdings of the Kabul
Museum
were looted, implying that they were sold on the black market. This
statement has been refuted by a special report of the National
Geographic
Society, proving that the museum's greatest treasures were always
secure in
storage, and that this secret was intentionally concealed by museum
staff
and international archaeologists. Most of what looting actually
occurred was
done by the forces of warlords or the Taliban. Nevertheless,
inflammatory
and false claims of losses that never occurred continue to be
presented as
justification for passage of H.R. 915. They present a misleading
impression
of a looting crisis that really does not exist.

There is no indication in the antiquities market that artifacts of
Afghani
origin have recently been or are now being traded in the unusual
quantities
that would result from wholesale looting of a character requiring
emergency
measures.

As Listowner of Unidroit-L, a discussion list focusing on the impact of
cultural property law on collecting, I have investigated many
sensational
claims by preservationists seeking to restrict or ban antiquities
collecting. One such allegation was made in the Congressional Record,
in
comments supporting H.R. 915. My findings
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L/message/1578) were recently
summarized. After reviewing a list of allegations found to be either
false
or highly exaggerated, I concluded:

"In each case, investigation of these sensational reports and
allegations
has revealed them to be either unfounded, or so exaggerated that
publication
was extremely improper."

"Allegations of looting, involvement of organized crime and terrorists
in
antiquities trafficking, or dimensions of the illicit antiquities trade
should NEVER be accepted without checking source evidence. The record
shows
that such allegations have proven to be very unreliable. Reporters
publishing such allegations, without verification or notice that they
have
not been verified, are guilty of irresponsible journalism."

"Finally, preservationists basing their anticollecting views on moral
principles ought to have enough respect for truth, fairness, and
responsibility to refrain from making allegations without first
verifying
that their statements are true."

I urge lawmakers not to credit sensational allegations of antiquities
looting and black market trading without checking the facts.
Regrettably, I
have found that archaeologists, museum officials and professors are not
necessarily reliable sources. Journalists who uncritically accepted
their
comments have printed reports more ludicrously false than "Dewey
defeats
Truman." The actual looting and smuggling problem has been
sensationalized,
exaggerated and exploited far beyond reality to mislead the public and
lawmakers into believing that a crisis exists, which can only be
resolved by
restricting and ultimately prohibiting private collecting. Promoting
the
anticollecting ideology in this deceptive manner strikes me as
unscrupulous.

This bill is also flawed by its excessive scope. It would restrict
importation of minor, culturally unimportant objects such as coins,
simply
because they are old and might possibly (though improbably) have
originated
in Afghanistan. My comments in the Congressional Record opposing H.R.
915
detail reasons why such restrictions would be inappropriate, could not
be
enforced fairly, and would cause problems far more significant than
whatever
good they might conceivably accomplish.